This Excel Shortcut closes the active workbook.
PC Shorcut:Ctrl+F4
Mac Shorcut:⌘+W
Remember This Shortcut:
PC: Ctrl + F4 closes the workbook, while Alt + F4 closes Excel. Mac: W for Workbook.
This Excel Shortcut closes Excel.
PC Shorcut:ALT+F4
Mac Shorcut:⌘+Q
Remember This Shortcut:
PC: Ctrl + F4 closes the workbook, while Alt + F4 closes Excel. Mac: Q for Quit
This Excel Shortcut closes the active window.
PC Shorcut:Ctrl+WCtrl+F4
Mac Shorcut:⌘+W
Remember This Shortcut:
W for Close Window
When you're done working with a file, it's a good idea to close it so you don't bog down your computer with unused programs.
Each spreadsheet window must be closed individually. When you have only one spreadsheet open and want Excel to stay running:
- Click the File tab.
- Click the Close button.
Press Ctrl + W to close a workbook.
You can close all open workbooks by holding down the Shift key as you click the Close button.
If you have multiple worksheets open, you’ll need to close each of them individually.
The file is closed but Excel is still running.
- If prompted, select from one of the following options:
- Save: Save your changes.
- Don't Save: Discard any changes you’ve made.
- Cancel: Don’t close the workbook.
If you click the Close button on the title bar when you have only one Excel file open, the workbook will close and you will exit the Excel program.
- Click the Close button.
Excel closes.
Free to distribute with our compliments; we hope you will consider our paid training.
- Open an Excel Workbook
- Recover an Excel File
- How to Save in Excel
This shortcut will close Excel.
On a Mac, you can use Command + Q to quit almost any application.
On Windows, you can use Alt + F4 for Excel. Also, you can press ALT + F followed by the X key.
Author
Dave Bruns
Hi - I'm Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
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When your computer is running a single instance of Excel, all workbooks that you open are opened in a workbook window inside the Excel window. You can also create new workbook windows for any worksheet in a workbook by using the New Window command (View tab, Window group).
For more information, see View two or more worksheets at the same time.
You can close each of these workbook windows one at a time, or you can close the entire workbook (including all of its workbook windows). To close all workbooks that are open, you can close the Excel window or exit Excel.
-
Click the workbook window that you want to close.
-
Click the
in the upper-right corner of the workbook window.
Note: If the window is the only open window of the workbook, the whole workbook is closed. If there are more workbook windows of the same workbook, only the active workbook window is closed.
-
Activate the workbook that you want to close.
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On the File tab, click Close.
Do one of the following:
-
In the upper-right corner of the Excel window, click Close
. -
On the File tab, click Exit.
You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.